WINOOSKI SCHOOL DISTRICT
60 NORMAND STREET
WINOOSKI, VT 05404
802-655-0485
To: Representative Duncan Kilmartin, Chair
Pre-Kindergarten Education Study Committee
Fr: Bruce Chattman, Superintendent, Winooski School District
Re: Early Childhood Programs In Winooski
Date: September 18, 2006
What collaborations with early childhood providers exist in Winooski...
Early Education is not child care. In Winooski, we require that our partners in Early Education are appropriately licensed and adhere to the Vermont Early Learning Standards and aligned with the Vermont Framework of Standards and Learning Opportunities. They are all nationally accredited and/or approved by the Agency of Human Services as program providers for early education services. The educational program for each of our partners must be developmentally appropriate, exceed 10 hours per week, and include learning objectives that relate to the Fields of Knowledge and the Vital Results included in the Framework. The Winooski Family Center is also a participant in the STARS Program.
The Winooski School District is a partner in 5 Early Education partnerships. Our partners are Burlington Children's Space, Trinity Children's Center, the YMCA and the Winooski Family Center and Head Start. We also run an in-house program in the school district. Programs vary from 14 - 17 hours based upon the needs of the students and some continue into the summer months.
All programs except the Winooski Family Center, Head Start, and our in-house program were new partnerships in 2005. The total enrollment in all of these new initiatives was 10 students last year. We do not have the enrollment figures for the current year at this time.
While our collaboration with the YMCA and other accredited programs is important and serves the needs of Winooski students, most of our energy and focus is on our relationship with the Winooski Family Center and our own in-house program. This is due to the intimate relationship between these two programs and other Winooski programs to serve youth and families. This relationship includes the Infant and Toddler Program, Early Essential Education, and Champlain Valley Head Start.
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WINOOSKI SCHOOL DISTRICT
60 NORMAND STREET
WINOOSKI, VT 05404
802-655-0485
In 2005, the Winooski Family Center began the year with 22 students, up from 8 in the previous year and has 30 enrolled on the first day this year. This is an increase of 375% in two years. In our EEC and Infant and Toddler programs for students with special education needs, there are 27 students (20-EEE; 7- Infant &Toddler) with 18 who qualify for the Free and Reduced breakfast/lunch program. The Head Start program has 20 students, 10 in the morning session and 10 in the afternoon session. All 20 of these students qualify for the Free & Reduced breakfast/lunch program. Our on-site program combines students from Head Start with students from Winooski's EEE program and provides fro excellent communication and collaborative teaching. When totaled, our pre-school programs have about 87 Our on-site program combines students from Head Start with students from Winooski's EEE program and had 26 students in 2005 and now has 40 students enrolled -an increase of about 70% in just one year students receiving early education services.
Why it works...
Our collaboration with early education providers works because it is a "win-win" situation. We do not drive their curriculum, nor do we manage their programs. What we seek is adherence to state established standards and curriculum coordination between their programs and our Kindergarten so that all students benefit. We provide them with staff development opportunities, coordination with ELL and Special Education services, and financial resources through the ADM formula. This enables them to have more staff, provide scholarships for students, have lower rates for parents, and keep the student/adult ratio low. We provide them with support from Winooski Faculty with expertise in Special Education, English Language Learners (ELL), federal breakfast and lunch programs, and facilities. The program between the Winooski Family Center, Head Start, and our own students is seamless. For students in Early Essential Education programs, this arrangement provides a normative peer group necessary for their learning and social/emotional development. For students who are immigrants and refugees, our ELL staff serve as a resource to the early Education providers. Transition for students from Early Education to Kindergarten is accompanied by meetings of all staff to insure that the student's program needs are understood and met. In many cases, the relationship between the early Education provider and School District receiving teacher are already established. Our programs include children
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WINOOSKI SCHOOL DISTRICT
60 NORMAND STREET
WINOOSKI, VT 05404
802-655-0485
who need special education services, ELL services and are open to all children regardless of socioeconomic background or "at-risk" category. The Winooski School District provides 1.5 FTE licensed teachers to the EEC and Infant & Toddler program and two .5 licensed teachers to the Winooski Family Center, with one teacher being employed in both programs. The WFC and head start also employ their own licensed staff as do the YMCA and other partners in our collaboratives.
How does the funding flow...
Our partnership with the YMCA and other Early Education Providers who serve children from multiple communities is based upon the established contract with a 70-30 split whereas the Winooski Family Center receives 100% of the ADM funding. The Winooski Family Center could not serve the number of students presently enrolled without the ADM funding. Originally, the Winooski Family Center relied upon grants from multiple organizations (Lund Home; McKinney Homeless Grant; Success by Six, United Way, Howard Family Services, Henderson Foundation; VSAC; Edwards foundation; Children's Trust Fund; Winooski City; Winooski Schools, Vermont Department of Children and Families; Winooski Housing Authority; Vermont Community Foundation) to serve its students. Most of these funds were categorical and have since been reduced or eliminated whereas the ADM has increased to a budget amount for this fiscal year of $61,687, allowing for an expansion in students served.
How do we measure success...
While the results of a quality preschool program manifest over many years with resulting reductions in special education referrals and related costs, reductions in drop out rates, increases in graduation rates, increases in college admissions and viable employment opportunities, we attempt to quantify our results by the few measures available to us in the short-term. We utilize the Kindergarten Readiness survey and the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) administered by the Vermont State Department of Education. By reviewing these, we know that our Winooski students, upon entering Kindergarten in the fall of 2000 were significantly (20 percentage points +) below their state counterparts in readiness areas of "social and emotional skills, approaches to learning, communication, and cognitive general knowledge." In the fall of 2003 and 2004, Winooski students made significant gains when compared
to Vermont's averages and we have expectations that these trend results will continue. More
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WINOOSKI SCHOOL DISTRICT
60 NORMAND STREET
WINOOSKI, VT 05404
802-655-0485
importantly, we know from our DRA results that our students in Grade 2 performed below state averages in 2000 and exceeded state averages in 2005. We also see a decline in the students who are included in the "no evidence" category indicating that students are arriving and demonstrating with more reading skills. While this success can not solely be attributed to Early Childhood programs. It is well established that learning is cumulative and that students in our early childhood programs have been provided with the opportunity for an even start and enter kindergarten with less gaps in ability.
As we work together, we will insure that children are receiving the necessary services to provide a developmentally appropriate educational program alleviating the need for labels such as "at-risk" and "special education." Students from our pre-school programs are succeeding based upon attainment of grade-level equivalencies (GLS's). We also know for the review of individual student portfolios, IEP's, and other personalized plans that this early intervention is working due to the collaboration and interaction between early education providers and Winooski teachers. There is evidence of individual students who are on the Autism Spectrum becoming more communicative and succeeding in school
Our programs are too new to have longitudinal data but we expect that, over time, we will see increases in students who are successful as they move through the K- 12 system, decreases in dropouts, increased graduation rates, declines in special education, and students who are generally more engaged in their learning.
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